BELLA'S GOLDFISH PARTY: PART ONE

Last night we partied late into the night with Bella and a few of her toddler buddies.

Okay, not exactly - but we did host a party to celebrate Bella turning two years old.  Cannot even believe that is reality, except that her behavior sort of indicates that second year under her belt, so it's made more believable all the time.

She loves fish.  I mean, she goes wild for them.  And, she loves the Goldfish snack crackers, so this seemed like a great theme for her.  She was so excited to wear her fishie shirt and "pretty" tutu.

Our friends own a "concert grade" bubble machine and graciously let us borrow it.  It provided great entertainment as children arrived.  Also, Bella and Lily were beyond thrilled.




Then everyone tried to eat.  I say "tried to eat," because if you have ever tried to feed yourself and your children at one of these events, you know that often, you don't eat much.  I'm pretty sure most kids got full though.




One of the big draws of the evening was the Goldfish Bar - did you know that you can buy 14 different kinds of Goldfish at Target?  You can!  I saw this idea on several different blogs found through Pinterest and put my own spin on it.

The only real activity I had planned was to go "fishing" off of our back deck.  My sis, Ellen, loaded the lines with treats from the bottom deck, and the kids seemed to really like it!  They each got to fish from both sides, and different treats came up the different sides.  It also created a bit of chaos on our back deck.

Here's cousin True, dressed appropriately for the party and looking upset that he did not get to go fishing.

Then, it was time for cake and treats!

(cute marshmallow pop idea from this blog, found through Pinterest)

Everyone sang, and Bella actually attempted blowing out her candles.



The cake had a fun ombre surprise inside, reminiscent of Lily's birthday cake when she turned two.



After that, the scheduled party events were over, and bubble mayhem began again, which then turned into kiddos playing in the front yard with the daddies.  Lily took some bubbles in the eye, which proved disastrous - here we are trying to calm her down.  (She's still screaming in the pic.)




At one point, a little boy dropped his pants and peed in the front yard.  The dads at first didn't notice and then did notice and laughed.  Here are the moms laughing over this.



Birthday girl decided to start bringing lots of different toys outside, and at one point was just sitting in the lawn, reading a princess book.



We sent everyone on their merry way with goldfish soap.



I am not about to give families a real pet that they are required to take care of, and this did the trick beautifully.  All in all, it was a blast.

Special thanks to:
John, aka Best Husband to Throw a Party With
My Mom, aka Best Party Assistant and Clean-Up Specialist
Ellen, aka Fishing Pole Loader Extraordinaire and Awesome Aunt
Our Friends, aka Best Party Guests

And yes, we will be eating goldfish for weeks.  The good things is - we go through large boxes quickly round here.  I plan on posting more of the party details tomorrow!  (More Details in this post!)